Audio from vinyl (24 / 96-192 khz). Converting/downsampling? Options

[Taishou]

Hi again

I have several digitized vinyls in FLAC, at 24 bit, 96-192 khz. Is it worth all that sample rate? I was thinking of making CD quality (16/44.1) FLACs or even mp3 320. I doubt I'll ever in my life spend more than, idk, 200 usd in headphones, so the over-quality looks a waste. What do you say? I'm far from an audiophile and I feel pretty happy with mp3 320 (I can't even tell from FLAC).

Anyway, I need to re-encode that at least for my mobile devices. Should I have any special care when converting? I use fre:ac (LAME 3.99.5). Should I just set 44.1 khz when encoding there and done? Or should I downsample with another tool and then encode? I just tried encoding something setting 44.1 in LAME and the result sounds the same as the original 24/192 (with my crappy headphones at least).

The same goes for FLAC or ogg (I tend to use the latter for my DAP). Just setting the sample rate when encoding is enough or is it better to do it with another program? (I doubt, but I wouldn't like regretting later because I made a crappy conversion).

Thanks!


(maybe this should go in the "vinyl" forum, but my concern is more with those high sample rates and downsampling, regardless the source)

[db1989]

It’s a result of one of audio’s many compound myths: the idea that vinyl as a medium has superior support for high-frequency content + the idea that there would be any reason to preserve such frequencies even if it did.
I refer to useful high-frequency content; it has plenty of worthless noise and distortion in those areas, I’m sure.

You’re right that 24 bits can be useful/advisable for editing, but implicit in that statement is the fact that such a high bit-depth is unnecessary for delivery/listening. Along these lines, you might be interested in this very good article by Monty of Xiph/Vorbis fame: 24/192 Music Downloads are Very Silly Indeed